What does your perfect afternoon look like? For me, it’s curling up with a hot cup of coffee and a good book. The two components combine into something special, where each contributes to my enjoyment of the other. Turns out, I’m in good company. Many writers and readers over the centuries have voiced their enjoyment of coffee, including the nineteenth-century French writer Honoré [...]
New year, same resolution. When we realized that each of us had plans to read more in 2019, the PSG Book Club was born. Eager readers all, we got started right away. Each member was given three slips of paper to write down their book suggestions, then we mixed them all in a bowl for drawing. We drew our first title in December [...]
Here at PSG, we share a lot of literary favorites. If the office collectively had to pick one favorite author, it would be Stephen King. But I thought I’d dig a little deeper to find out who some of our other favorite authors are. The rules were, no one’s answer could be just Stephen King. My favorite author at the moment is Jodi [...]
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino is a book that defies description: it consists of 55 vignettes, each of which describes a different fictional city. Yet each of these cities is in fact Venice, seen from one perspective or another, as told by a fictional version of Venetian traveler Marco Polo to the emperor Kublai Khan. By describing cities that are at once exquisite and [...]
Haruki Murakami’s 2002 novel Kafka on the Shore begins in bustling Tokyo, Japan, but takes us on a literary road trip that follows the protagonist, Kafka Tamura, as he runs away from home. He ends up on Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s four main islands. He finds refuge in the Komura Memorial Library and explores the mysteries of the library and the people [...]
Young adult novels are popular among readers of all ages. I typically gravitate toward YA fantasy—I love the idea that I can travel to a different world just by picking up a book. If you’re looking to escape reality through a YA fantasy novel, I recommend the following: Heartless by Marissa Meyer In this origin story, Catherine (soon to be the Queen of [...]
Here at PSG, it’s pretty obvious that we love everything book-related. We’ve previously written about the Boston Book Festival since it is one of the biggest book events in this area, but there are other popular book festivals all around the country. The Brooklyn Book Festival is the “largest free literary event in New York City.” It’s a whole week long, and it [...]
Picking courses for the summer semester had me thinking: it’s summer—I want to take something fun! As I scoured the course catalog with this in mind, the course Comic Books and Graphic Novels jumped out at me. I’d read a couple graphic novels before, but I embraced this course as an opportunity to expand my horizons while taking an enjoyable summer course in [...]
It’s October, and that means Halloween is approaching! When I was a kid I focused my energy on trading candy with my friends, but more recently I’ve been reading spooky books in order to get into the Halloween spirit. Here are a few of my favorites: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. This classic of horror literature invites its readers to explore the distinction between [...]
Want to start a new book but can’t find the inspiration to actually sit down and read it? Would it help if you knew there was scientific evidence that said reading is beneficial to your health and wellbeing? Reading is an excellent brain workout. It has been proven to not only increase intelligence, but can also prevent neurological disease and slow mental decline [...]